Are there any black people with Asperger's syndrome?

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Tell them they are stupid.

*raises hand* I would count as a black Aspie too.

My son is 1/2 Hispanic. (My husband is Guatemalan, I am of mixed European ancestry.) He is undiagnosed, but fits classic male Aspergers traits perfectly.

In my discussion groups, parenting support groups, my children's schools and therapeutic centers, I've seen autism and asperger's in ALL races. Currently my son is in a high-functioning ASD program and the kids in the program are often aspies and they are every color and creed: latino, black, asian, polish, you name it. My son is probably one of the few non-aspies in the program and the sore thumb of the ASDers who isn't simultaneously hyperlexic or somewhat gifted. But I live in an unusually incredibly diverse melting pot of a city, so my reality probably does not reflect what goes on in the rest of the country or world for that matter.

As far as demographs go, I agree that it is very possible and quite probable that there underlies a socioeconomic force that betrays the true prevalance of Aspergers diagnoses in the educational and/or medical system.

I am black and I believe that I'm on the spectrum.

At the elementary school I work at...

There are 8 kids on the spectrum

2 are black
1 biracial
2 Arabic

So much for whites just having it.

And this is in an affluent school district, not the hood.

Yeah probably, I started a thread on here the other day about the upcoming N.W.A. movie, and it hasn't got a single reply.

Something else that needs to be taken into consideration, at least in the U.S., is that racial minorities and poorer people are less likely to seek out or participate in mental health services. There is a social taboo. I am not discounting anything that anyone else has said, just adding this fact.

As someone who is a black male and has Asperger's, I have to agree that is it incredibly isolating. I do not fit any black stereotypes, and black people seem to be the people who are the most angry about it. I don't have black friends. The only black people I interact with are my family. All my friends are of some other race. All the women I date are of some other race. This is because I was rejected/cast out of the black community when I was growing up. Everybody hated me because I "acted white." White people usually accept me or at least treat me nicer, even if it they think I am subhuman monkey.

There is another factor that needs to be considered as well though. This is rural/urban. Most black people in the U.S. are middle class. We are normal. We are not what the minstrel show called pop culture displays us as. However, there is a socioeconomic divide within the black community. If you live in a part of the country where there aren't that many blacks, you are less likely to find another black person who has not bought into the minstrel show mentality of blackness. For instance, I did not know that you didn't have to be a "gangsta" in order to be a black male until I went to college because I grew up in such a small, backward, poor town. When I moved to the city, there were all kinds of smart, middle class, professional black men. No one said they were acting white either. They didn't have to choose between their racial identity and their identity as intelligent or studious. To be honest, I am still shocked and somewhat unsettled when I see black people in authority or being treated as equals or I see black kids who are middle class and don't pretend to be poor. It does not fit with the rigid racial hierarchy I was raised with. I like it though. It gives me hope about America.

No, OP, you're not the only one.

(Although I doubt OP is even still around to see this post considering this thread got mega bumped)

I am white and I grew up with a cleft lip and I got endless bullying for it.
In the last couple of years I got it fixed up nicely and low and behold my confidence did not rise something else was wrong.

I got my official diagnosis this year only.

PC does nothing to stop bullying in schools as recent cases of suicide among children have shown.

If I could be a normal black person rather then a white person with Aspergers I would jump at it.

I hope the next generation of Aspies don't have to take the same crap we all had to.

Last edited by sharkattack on 05 Dec 2013, 8:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I am white are 39 and I only got diagnosed this year.

I suspect the true extent of the problem among black people may be down to lack of diagnoses.

what are you trying to sugest black people arnt human and dont expiernce the same disorder/diseases as everybody else?

Why have you taken offense to a post that is now way is meant to be offensive?

What part of my posts suggest any of the above to you?

Aspergers was an unknown and hidden problem up until 1994.

I got diagnosed as an adult.

I am suggesting that the black population at large may have many Aspies like me who never got diagnosed

I'm black and have high-functioning autism.

^do you know Jkid?

^do you know Jkid?